This easy, moist classic coffee and walnut cake is full of coffee and walnut notes, topped with a delicious coffee and brown sugar cream cheese frosting.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F. Grease and line a regular or standard loaf pan with parchment or baking paper, making sure to leave an overhang for easy removal of the loaf.
Add the coffee to the hot water, stir, and allow it to cool.
2 tablespoons instant coffee, 180 mL hot water
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown and white sugar until well combined. This will take about 2-3 minutes using an electric hand mixer.
165 grams light brown sugar, 150 grams white granulated sugar, 113 grams butter
Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined, light, fluffy, and smooth. About 2-3 minutes using an electric mixer.
2 eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pour in the cooled coffee mixture.
Add in the walnuts, flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix until combined.
Pour into the loaf tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center of the loaf.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before placing it on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Combine 1 tablespoon of water/ milk with the ½ teaspoon of coffee, stir, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the room-temperature cream cheese and butter. Beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and combined. This will take about 3-5 minutes.
Add in the brown sugar and beat until well combined and dissolved. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes.
3 tablespoon light brown sugar
Add in the coffee milk and mix through. Then add 10 tablespoon of the icing sugar and mix. Continue adding the icing sugar one tablespoon at a time until the frosting is a nice spreadable consistency.
13 tablespoon icing sugar
Spread the icing over the top of the cake. Slice and serve.
All temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. Decrease the temperature by 20°C/25°F or gas mark 1 for "fan" or air-fryers.
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Notes
Wait for the oven to preheat properly before baking, with the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Use room temperature ingredients.
To help the bread split open in the middle during baking (which also allows the cake to rise), place either a thin band of melted butter or cut thin 2mm x 2mm wide strips of butter and place in the center of the loaf. An optional extra.
Do not overbake the loaf. Check the status of the loaf at 45 minutes and continue baking at 5 to 10-minute increments until a tester comes out mostly clean.
The frosting is an optional extra for this cake. I find the cake delicious enough without the frosting. However, the coffee brown sugar frosting does add a nice dimension to the cake.
*Icing sugar is measured in tablespoons for this recipe's frosting simply because I found it easier to add the icing sugar in tablespoons at a time to reach the correct consistency. Since this is frosting the measurement doesn't need to be gram accurate.
If it feels like the frosting needs more icing sugar than the recipe calls for, pop it into the fridge for 5 minutes.
Storage and Freezing
Store this coffee walnut loaf cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Keep in mind that this is a moist quickbread, and should the weather be rather warm, store the bread in the fridge instead.Alternatively, you can freeze the coffee walnut loaf cake by wrapping it in cling film and tin or aluminum foil for up to 3 months.